A Time to Remember
by The Auburn Girl
Summary: In Storybrooke years later, Belle and Rumple are expecting their first baby. They host a family dinner, and the Littlest Swanfire (not Henry) asks too many embarrassing questions while there. Unabashed, short family/Rumbelle fluff. Includes Swanfire and Snowing.


_A/N: This was prompted by steampunk-archer on Tumblr._

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Belle huffed and anxiously ran her hands down her dress. She couldn't decide whether or not she liked what she saw. Sighing, she turned in front of her floor-length mirror, and tried to assess herself at a better angle. "Well..." she muttered, very unhappy. "It will have to do."

A tsk came from the doorway. "You look beautiful, sweetheart."

Belle twisted to spy her husband, and she smiled. "You_ have_ to say that, Rumple. But thank you." She watched as he stepped towards her, with eyes alight, and wrapped his arms around her. His hands skimmed down her swollen belly and rested there.

"Mmm... Every day you grow more stunning," he said, eyeing her in the mirror. "Truly, you are beautiful." He rubbed her belly through her blue dress, and she took that moment to slide her hands down his arms and clasp them to her. When he suddenly kissed her neck, she shivered and leaned into him, her legs weak. He chuckled, and then glanced over at their clock. "They will be here soon."

She looked at him in alarm. "Is everything ready?"

Rumple nodded. "The table is set. Bae and Charming can carry the food when they arrive. Don't worry, Belle. Everything will be fine."

Belle couldn't hold back a chuckle. "Normally, _I'm_ the one who has to reassure _you_."

"Yes—well, I am not the one pregnant and panicking," he murmured, planting a kiss on the crown of her head. He relinquished her waist then, but held her hand. "Let's head downstairs."

As he led the way out of their bedroom, her eyes trailed over him. He was dressed as impeccably as ever, in his Armani suit, and she laughed. He raised an eyebrow at her, and she explained: "I think you're overdressed, darling. Baelfire is going to come in jeans and David will be in his ridiculously tight pants again."

Rumple snorted under his breath and rolled his eyes. "I have a reputation to uphold..." His eyes suddenly blazed with heat, and they paused on the stairs. "And I had no idea you disliked tight pants, sweetheart. I distinctly remember you begging me to put on my leather pants—"

She swatted his arm, blushing furiously. "Don't you dare mention that."

Laughing, he helped her down the last step. "You weren't complaining then, of that I am sure," he whispered in her ear.

"Rumple, I'm warning you."

"In fact—"

The doorbell rang. Belle was certain she'd never heard a more blessed sound. She brushed passed her smirking husband to get the door. He followed close behind her and placed his hand on the small of her back, and she shot him a half-hearted glare. "I'm not an invalid."

"But you are my wife," he reminded her, smiling.

He was the one to open the door—and all of a sudden they were bombarded with a babble of voices. Baelfire, Emma, David, and Mary Margaret stood on the front porch smiling. Belle had been right about Baelfire's jeans and David's tight, dark pants. Even Emma and Mary Margaret had decided to dress casually, she noted. Then she realized that all of the adults were there. But Henry and two little girls were definitely missing.

"Where are—?" Before she could finish asking where the teenager and little ones were, someone pushed their way through the adults' tall legs.

"Grandpa! Grandma!"

Ellie was a streak of blonde hair as she scrambled over the threshold and lunged into her grandfather's arms. He hefted her up, no longer in need of his cane, and settled her against his hip. "Hey there, little devil," he teased, tickling her until she squirmed and cried out for her father's help.

"Easy there, Papa," Baelfire joked. He let Emma step into the house first and then followed after her. "How are you, Belle?" he asked, giving her a careful hug. "You look good, all things considered."

Emma elbowed him in the ribs. "Ignore him," she said, shooting him a look. "But you do look good, Belle. Better than I did at five months, anyway." She grimaced. "I was already waddling with Ellie then."

"And eating Klondike bars by the dozen. She made me go out at three in the morning to get them once," Baelfire added, grinning.

"Neal, I swear to Go—"

"Relax, Emma," he soothed, still grinning.

"Well," David said, closing the front door after Mary Margaret and a shy, little girl stepped through, "When Snow was pregnant with Jennie, she kicked me out of bed to get pickles and Nutella."

Emma gagged. "Ew."

"Hey, how's my little bookworm buddy?" Belle asked, bending down as far as she dared to tug on Jennie's dark locks. Unlike Ellie, Jennie was extremely shy when it came to large gatherings. She hovered behind her mother's legs, but smiled up at Belle and reached out to hug her. "I have a few books to read to you later. And I have a few you can keep and read to Henry and Ellie okay?"

"Okay," Jennie said, bobbing up and down on her feet.

"Speaking of Henry...where is he?" Rumple wondered, ignoring Ellie as she ran her hands curiously through his hair. The little squirt was always so easily entertained.

"Spending the day with Regina," Emma explained. "They had something special planned and didn't want to push it back. Sorry."

Belle smiled, holding Jennie's hand as she walked into the dining room. "That's alright. Why don't you boys," she nodded to Rumple, Baelfire, and David, "get the dishes, and we'll sit down to eat? Everything is in the kitchen, and the turkey is in the oven warming."

Ellie clung to Rumple when he tried to set her down. "Grandpa, why is your hair grey when other Grandpa's isn't?" she asked loudly. Rumple visibly grimaced; he was not entirely pleased by the fact that his hair was greying. There was a moment of awkward silence around the table, until Baelfire took matters into his own hands.

"Because I stressed him out a lot when I was your age, kiddo," he said, snatching her from his father's arms. Ellie squealed and let out a peal of laughter. "And Grandpa Charming got lucky with your mama and Jennie. See this?" he pointed to his head of hair. "There's a lot of grey hairs in there because of you." He started to tickle her.

"And Henry! And Henry!" she gasped between fits of laughter.

"And Henry," he agreed, finally setting her down. He met Emma's smile with his own, and then winked at his daughter. "We'll be right back."

Belle gave Rumple a soft look and touched her belly. A corner of his mouth quirked up, and he left the room with David to bring the dishes to the table.

"Sorry 'bout that," Emma muttered to Belle while she sat Ellie in her seat, which was situated between hers' and Baelfire's. "Kid has a runaway mouth."

Mary Margaret sat with Jennie in her lap. "She's a lot like you and Neal," she said. "She's definitely got your fire."

"Mary Margaret," Emma whined. "No. The last thing I need is for Ellie to be like the both of us. Neal and I would never get a moment of peace. We're already both terrified of what she'll be like in her teens."

"Please. _No_." Baelfire walked into the dining room holding the turkey. "No talking about Ellie as a teenager. I can't mentally deal with that image right now."

Ellie giggled at her parent's antics, and even Jennie cracked a toothy grin from her seat on Mary Margaret's lap.

Belle's cheeks hurt from smiling so much, and she ran her hands over her protruding belly once more. Their little one wasn't due for quite some time, but they'd already picked out a name for their wee lad. Seeing Ellie and Jennie only made her more excited.

Rumple set down the cranberry sauce and caught her gaze. His eyes trailed down her form and settled on her pronounced bump. There was a twinkling in his eyes, and she knew he was thinking the same thing as her. They had a family now, presently sitting around them, but when their little bundle of joy arrived, everything would be complete. Everything would be perfect.

Their moment was broken.

"That looks a little bit like earwax, doesn't it, mama? Like the stuff that comes out when you clean my ears? Why is it there? What does it do?" Ellie questioned, pointing to the glass container of yellowed scalloped potatoes David had just brought in.

Everyone groaned.

Baelfire was the only one who laughed.


End file.
